Fromage
Logo of the 2005 edition of Fromage
Country of originCanada
Original release
NetworkMuchMusic, XSNetworks
Release1988 (1988) –
2013 (2013)

Fromage is an annual Canadian one-hour special produced by the MuchMusic cable channel. Fromage paid "tribute" to music videos considered the worst or cheesiest of the year by MuchMusic staff.

History

The special was created in 1988 by songwriter (and MuchMusic VJ) Christopher Ward. Christopher hosted the show for the first several years, playing the part of a French stereotype called Charles De Camembert. Later Natalie Richard joined as co-host.

From 1997, the program was hosted by MuchMusic's acerbic puppet VJ Ed the Sock, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner. The show traditionally aired during the Christmas season as a part of special annual programming dubbed the "Holiday Wrap", and features a countdown of the worst music videos of the year, with humorously cynical (and sometimes profane) commentary from Ed along the way. Only selected videos are shown in their entirety. The specials are often taped in places such as cheese factories and restaurants to play on the name "Fromage". "Fromage" is French for "cheese".

The format has changed from year to year; in 1999, rather than looking back at the previous year's videos, the special focused on the worst videos of the 20th century. From then to 2003, the awards were given according to categories nominated in, then counted down from least to most votes. 2001 was the last year the show was seen on MuchMusic USA, after that network decided to end simulcasting MuchMusic and eventually become fuse.

In 2004, the format was changed to a top 40 cheesiest video countdown, where any video can be nominated. This has caused videos to be voted that Ed has not agreed with. These are usually due to the videos being intentionally cheesy, whereas Fromage is supposed to deal with videos that are not aware of their own cheesiness. Such videos included:

In December 2006, it was announced that no Fromage special would air on MuchMusic, but a 30-minute special entitled "Ultra Fromage 2006" would air exclusively on Citytv. In order to differentiate itself from the previous Fromage specials, it covered aspects of show business and pop culture, with a short segment on the cheesiest music videos at the end of the program. Ed the Sock maintained hosting duties and was joined by Liana K, his co-host on the Citytv show, Ed & Red's Night Party. This was the last Fromage as Ed's relationship with Citytv ended when new owners re-branded the channel, but the Ultra-Fromage style was a template for what would become I Hate Hollywood on CHCH TV.[1]

In 2008, the MuchMusic program Video on Trial, itself a show that critiques music videos with a rotating panel of comedians, presented the "Best of the Worst 2008" special in December 2008, counting down the worst 20 music videos of the year in a format similar to that of Fromage 2004 and 2005. It was followed up with editions in each subsequent year.

The show was revived after an eight-year hiatus with "Fromage 2013" (albeit with a shorter run-time similar to "Ultra Fromage 2006"), which is featured on the XSNetwork's channel on YouTube. It was once again hosted by Ed the Sock and counted down the nine cheesiest videos of the year, as chosen by Ed personally (as opposed to being chosen by viewers in previous years).[2][3] It was originally intended to be a one-hour special, like previous Fromage specials, but production was cut due to a power outage caused by the Toronto Ice Storm in late December 2013.

Dates

Title Date Host(s) Station
Fromage '88 30 December 1988 Charles De Camembert (played by Christopher Ward) MuchMusic[4]
Fromage '89 27 December 1989 Charles De Camembert MuchMusic
Fromage '90 2 January 1991 Charles De Camembert MuchMusic
Fromage '91 28 December 1991 Charles De Camembert MuchMusic[5]
Fromage '92 29 December 1992 Charles De Camembert & Natalie Richard MuchMusic
Fromage '93 27 December 1993 Charles De Camembert & Natalie Richard MuchMusic
Fromage '94 24 December 1994 Charles De Camembert & Natalie Richard MuchMusic
Fromage '95 27 December 1995 Charles De Camembert MuchMusic[6]
Fromage '96 27 December 1996 Charles De Camembert MuchMusic[7]
Fromage '97 30 December 1997 Ed The Sock MuchMusic
Fromage '98 29 December 1998 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[8][9]
Fromage 1999 28 December 1999 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[10]
Fromage 2000: F2K Enter The Cheese 27 December 2000 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[11]
Fromage 2001 27 December 2001 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[12]
Fromage 2002 28 December 2002 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[13]
Fromage 2003 21 December 2003 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[14]
Fromage '04 25 December 2004 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[15]
Fromage 2005 22 December 2005 Ed The Sock MuchMusic[16]
Ultra Fromage 2006 29 December 2006 Ed The Sock CityTV[17]
Ed the Sock's Fromage 2013 1 January 2014 Ed The Sock XSNetwork[3]

Fromage number ones

See also

  • Video on Trial, a MuchMusic series featuring comedic reviews of music videos that ran from 2005 to 2014.

References

  1. ↑ Much Ado About Ed by Sam Tweedle
  2. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Ed the Sock's Fromage 2013 - xsnetwork.com. YouTube.
  3. 1 2 Rayner, Ben (29 December 2013). "Ed the Sock revives Fromage for New Year's Eve". thestar.com. The Toronto Star. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "The Prince George Citizen TV Times". pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. 24 December 1988. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "FROMAGE 91 : "cheeze" of the year (MuchMusic)". groups.google.com. 7 January 1992. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  6. ↑ "MuchMusic Fromage Awards (more info found)". groups.google.com. 4 January 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Fromage '96 - the year's hideos". groups.google.com. 29 December 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Fromage '98 awards - the not-so-best of the year". groups.google.com. 3 January 1999. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "Much Press Releases". 29 January 1999. Archived from the original on 1999-01-29. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "MuchMusic's "Fromage 99" with Ed the Sock". groups.google.com. 30 December 1999. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "'Sultan of Sneer' socks it to 'em again". groups.google.com. 27 December 2000. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "MuchMusic | Fromage 2001". 3 December 2001. Archived from the original on 3 December 2001. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  13. ↑ "MuchMusic.com | Concerts & Specials". 11 December 2002. Archived from the original on 11 December 2002. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  14. ↑ "MuchMusic.com | Fromage 2003". 3 December 2003. Archived from the original on 3 December 2003. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "MuchMusic.com | Fromage 2004". 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 17 November 2004. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  16. ↑ "MuchMusic.com | Fromage 2005". 25 November 2005. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "Ultra Fromage 2006". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
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